Fastener



y 16, 1967 s. N. CROWTHER 3,319,912

FASTENER Filed June 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3 FIG .4

//VV/Vf0/? y 16, 1967 G. N. CROWTHER 3,319,912

FASTENER Filed June 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MVE/VfO/P 650965 170546901mm,

United States Patent 3,319,912 FASTENER George Noel Crowther, StokePoges, England, assignor- The present invention relates to an improvedfastener which is particularly, although not exclusively suitable forsecuring a cable having a nipple at one end to a support having twospaced apertured arm's.

According to the invention there is provided the combination of a cablehaving an enlarged end attached to a support member having two spacedparallel arms formed with aligned apertures with the aid of a fastenercomprising a body portion adapted to extend across the two arms the bodyportion being slotted from the centre to a side edge of the body portionand having extensions at each end adapted to extend into the aperturedarms, the cable extending through the slot with the enlarged end locatedbehind the body portion and being slidable along and out of the slotwhen the fastener is disengaged from the support.

According to a further embodiment of the invention there is alsoprovided a fastener for attaching a cable having a nipple at one end toa support having two parallel outwardly extending and apertured arms,the fastener having a part-cylindrical body portion adapted to extendthrough the apertures in the arms of the support and a pair of outwardlyextending lugs at one end of the body portion and adapted to abut theouter surface of an arm of the support, the body portion being slottedfrom the other end to receive the cable and the said slotting beingnarrower than the diameter of the nipple on the cable.

Alternatively, there is provided a fastener for attaching a cable havinganipple at one end to a support having two parallel outwardly extendingand apertured arms, the fastener being channel-shaped and having twosubstantialiy parallel flanges joined by a web which is adapted to beintroduced between the arms of the support, the flanges having outwardlybent feet portions and intermediate the web and the feet portionsoutwardly bent lugs which are adapted to engage in the apertured arms ofthe support, the web and flanges being slotted to receive the cable, theslotting stopping short of the lug in each flange and being narrower inthe region of the web than the nipple on the cable and wider in theregion of at least one flange than the nipple to enable the cable to belocated through the slot with the nipple engaged behind the web.

In yet a further embodiment of the invention there is provided anassembly of a lever pivoted to a support and actuated by a sheathedcable having a nipple at one end, the sheath being attached to the endof the lever and the cable extending beyond the sheath and beingattached by a fastener to the support, the support having two spacedapertured arms and the fastener being engaged transversely through thearms and having a slot through which the cable extends, the nipple beingengaged behind the fastener and the cable being slidable sideways out ofthe fastener when the fastener is disengaged from the support.

Preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIGURES l and 2 are respectively a plan and end elevation of a fastener,

FIGURES 3 and 4 are respectively a side and front elevation of anassembly showing the fastener of FIG- "ice URES '1 and 2 holding asheathed cable to two fixed apertured flanges,

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are respectively a side elevation, plan and endelevation of a modification of the fastener of FIGURES 1 and 2, and

FIGURE 8 is an elevation of an assembly similar to FIGURE 3 but showingthe fastener of FIGURES 5 to 7.

In FIGURES 1 and 2 there is indicated generally at 10 a fastener whichis formed from a single strip of metal and which, after beingmanufactured to the shape shown, is preferably rendered resilient andrustproof.

The fastener 10 comprises a body portion which is partcylindric-al inshape and is formed with a stopped axiallyextending slot 11. The slot 11opens out of the leading end or nose 12 of the fastener, which isdivided thereby into two tongues 13 and 14. The free ends of the tongues13 and 14 are arcuate, so that the nose 12 of the fastener is tapered,and a part-annular depression 15 is stamped out around the closed end ofthe slot 11.

The opposite or head end 16 of the fastener is formed with two outwardlybent lugs 17, 17a and prongs 18, 18a are sheared and bent from the sideedges of the fastener adjacent to the head 16 so as to provide abutmentsspaced from and facing the lugs 17, 17a.

The fastener 10 is used, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, to attach asheathed cable 19, 24, to a fixed support 20 having two parallel,upstanding, apertured arms 21, 21a. A lever 22 is pivotally mountedbetween the arms and the inner cable 19 passes through a slotted head 23on the lever with its sheath portion 24 seated in and attached to theslotted head 23.

In order to attach the cable to the support 20 the tongues 13 and 14 ofthe fastener are pinched together and inserted through the aperture inthe arm 21a. The cable 19 which carries a nipple 25 at its outer end isthen passed along the slot 11 until the nipple is seated in thedepression 15. The tongues of the fastener are then pinched togetheragain and pressed home through the other arm 21 until the prongs 18, 18asnapengage behind the inside face of the arm 21a.

In the assembled position the lugs 17, 17a prevent the fastener frompassing too far through the arms and the prongs 18, 18a prevent thefastener from being withdrawn during normal operation.

As will be seen, pivoting movement of the lever 22 produces movement ofthe sheath 24 relative to the cable 19 and support 20 and vice-versa.Thus, the sheath can be used to actuate the lever 2-2 or movement of thelever can be used to actuate any mechanism to which the sheath 24 isattached.

The fastener 10 is free to rotate in the apertures in the arms 21, 21aand transverse movements of the cable 19, for example in the directionof the arrow A of FIG- URE 3 which take place when the lever is pivoted,cause the fastener to rotate thus reducing the bending of the cable andthe strain imposed on the cable thereby.

A modified form of fastener which is used for the same purpose as thefastener 10 is indicated generally at 30 in FIGURES 5 to 7.

The fastener 30 is sheared and bent to U or channel shape so as to havea Web 31 and two flanges 32, 32a.

The ends of the flanges 32, 32a are outwardly bent to form feet 33, 3311respectively and a slot 34 is formed in the fastener 30 so as to extendover the whole length of the web 31 and terminate in the flanges 32,32a. In the flanges 32, 32a the slot 34 is of increased Width to formrecesses 35, 35a respectively, the ends of which are arcuate.

Immediately beyond the arcuate end of each recess 35, 35a the flangesare formed with arcuate cuts and the material in each flange between thecuts and the recesses is bent outwardly from the flange to form arcuateretaining lugs 36 and 37 respectively.

The fastener 30 is used in the same manner as the fastener 10 to holdthe cable 19 to the support 20.

In order to make the assembly, the nipple 25 is passed sideways throughone of the recesses 35, 35a in the fastener so that the cable 19 slidesalong the slot 34. With the nipple 25 located behind the web 31, the web31 is pressed through the arms on the support until the arcuateretaining lugs 37, 37a, engage in the apertures in the arms with thefeet 33, 33a engaged behind the arms. In this position the cable 19 isattached securely to the arms of the support by the fastener 30 with thenipple 25 held behind the web 31 and is free to rotate relative to thearms so as to reduce the bending of the cable 19 in response to movementof the lever 22, in the same manner as the fastener 10.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention illustratedand described herein may be modified without departing from the scopeand spirit of the invention which is best described in the followingclaims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a cable having an enlarged end attached to asupport member having two spaced parallel arms formed with alignedapertures with the aid of a fastener comprising a body portion adaptedto extend across the two arms, the body portion being slotted from thecentre to a side edge of the body portion and having extensions at eachend adapted to extend into the apertured arms, the cable extendingthrough the slot with the enlarged end located behind the body portionand being slidable along and out of the slot when the fastener isdisengaged from the support.

2. A fastener for attaching a cable having a nipple at one end to asupport having two parallel outwardly extending and apertured arms, thefastener having a partcylindrical body portion adapted to extend throughthe apertures in the arms of the support and a pair of outwardlyextending lugs at one end of the body portion and adapted to abut theouter surface of an arm of the support, the body portion being slottedfrom the other end to receive the cable and the said slotting beingnarrower than the diameter of the nipple on the cable.

3. A fastener as claimed in claim 2, in which the body portion is formedwith a pair of prongs projecting outwardly and towards the said lugs,the free ends of the prongs being spaced from the lugs by a distance notless than the width of one of the said arms of the support and beingadapted to bear against an inner surface of the said one arm to resistaxial movement of the fastener through the apertured arms of thesupport.

4. A fastener for attaching a cable having a nipple at one end to asupport having two parallel outwardly extending and apertured arms, thefastener being channelshaped and having two substantially parallelflanges joined by a web which is adapted to be introduced between thearms of the support, the flanges having outwardly bent feet portions andintermediate the the web and the feet portions outwardly bent lugs whichare adapted to engage in the apertured arms of the support, the web andflanges being slotted to receive the cable, the slotting stopping shortof the lug in each flange and being narrower in the region of the webthan the nipple on the cable and wider in the region of at least oneflange than the nipple to enable the cable to be located through theslot with the nipple engaged behind the web.

5. An assembly of a lever pivoted to a support and actuated by asheathed cable having a nipple at one end, the sheath being attached tothe end of the lever and the cable extending beyond the sheath and beingattached by a fastener to the support, the support having two spaced,apertured arms and the fastener being engaged transversely through thearms and having a slot through which the cable extends, the nipple beingengaged behind the fastener and the cable being slidable sideways out ofthe fastener when the fastener is disengaged from the support.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,180,442 11/1939 Tondeur 745 01 2,302,198 11/ 1942 E-hrmann. 2,600,062 6/ 1952Lorentzen. 2,798,406 7/1957 Steck.

FOREIGN PATENTS 807,726 1/ 1959 Great Britain.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

1. THE COMBINATION OF A CABLE HAVING AN ENLARGED END ATTACHED TO ASUPPORT MEMBER HAVING TWO SPACED PARALLEL ARMS FORMED WITH ALIGNEDAPERTURES WITH THE AID OF A FASTENER COMPRISING A BODY PORTION ADAPTEDTO EXTEND ACROSS THE TWO ARMS, THE BODY PORTION BEING SLOTTED FROM THECENTRE TO A SIDE EDGE OF THE BODY PORTION AND HAVING EXTENSIONS AT EACHEND ADAPTED TO EXTEND INTO THE APERTURED ARMS, THE CABLE EXTENDINGTHROUGH THE SLOT WITH THE ENLARGED END LOCATED BEHIND THE BODY PORTIONAND BEING SLIDABLE ALONG AND OUT OF THE SLOT WHEN THE FASTENER ISDISENGAGED FROM THE SUPPORT.